FTC and CFPB’s position on adverse items of information and the seven-year reporting period

In a recent amicus brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) – double the pleasure – teamed up to provide their interpretation of section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), the reporting of “other adverse items of information” and the seven year reporting period.

The matter, Moran v. The Screening Pros LLC (Case No. 12-57246), involves a consumer report used for tenant screening purposes. The report, made in 2010, listed a 2000 misdemeanor drug charge that was dismissed in 2004. This is the key fact and this is where the FTC and CFPB claim that the Plaintiff is correct in saying that the consumer report provided to the propery manager shouldnot have included the misdemeanor drug charge as the information was outside the seven year window.